LA Tech Week 2025: Wednesday’s Event Lineup

LA Tech Week 2025: Wednesday’s Event Lineup

Here's the Wednesday, October 15th lineup for LA Tech Week 2025, organized by location so you can easily explore events that fit your goals and schedule. Dive in and see what’s happening near you!

ARTS DISTRICT

5:00 PM – 7:30 PM

  • Heat & Haze: LA’s Dual Climate Emergency: See Details Here
    ThermoShade, AirVitalize, JPMorgan

BEL AIR

7:00 PM

BEVERLY HILLS

11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

  • Rejuvenation Mansion: See Details Here
    Rejuvenation Summit, iceless.la, Roam & Reset

11:00 AM

  • Series A founders +Investors@ Private Club Hollywood, featuring Arthur Spivak: See Details Here
    Atlas Cloud AI, Amino Capital, Wilson Sonsini

2:00 PM

  • LAVA Bio/Global LAVA Korea LA TechWeek Showcase: *Invite Only*
    LAVA

3:30 PM

5:30 PM

5:30 PM

  • What's Next in Comms –Happy Hour by PeakMetrics & Stakeholder Labs: See Details Here
    PeakMetrics

6:00 PM – 8:30 PM

  • BAD BITCH EMPIRE: Unapologetic Wealth: See Details Here
    Bad Bitch Empire, Women in AI

6:30 PM

  • LIGHT DAO SALON: Investor Fireside Chat with: Saurabh Suri, CerraCap Ventures: See Details Here
    Light Dao, EVOLVING POTENTIAL

BRENTWOOD

11:15 AM

  • Longevity: Investable Science: See Details Here
    Monarch Athletic Club, The Reason Longevity AI Intelligence

CENTURY CITY

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

  • VCPE: LA TECH WEEK Panel & Pitch 2025: See Details Here
    VCPE GROUPS, ECVC ACCELERATOR, Sente Ventures

11:00 AM – 1:30 PM

  • Investing in Music’s Future Through Advocacy & Innovation: See Details Here
    Solid Gold Global, BMO

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

2:30 PM – 5:30 PM

  • VCPE & FAMILY OFFICES Happy Hour: See Details Here
    VCPE GROUPS, LiveToGive, AutoParts.com

4:00 PM – 7:00 PM

  • a16z Speedrun x Litquidity Ventures: Investor Padel Mixer: See Details Here
    Litquidity Ventures, a16z speedrun

5:30 PM

  • Built Smarter: Tech Shaping Housing: See Details Here
    YIMBY Los Angeles, Venable LLP

6:30 PM

CULVER CITY

8:00 AM – 6:00 PM

4:00 PM – 8:00 PM

  • The Future of High Performance: Longevity, Recovery, and Resilience in Tech: See Details Here
    ConciergeMD

4:30 PM – 7:30 PM

  • OpenDrives' Astraeus Product Launch Celebration: Bringing the Cloud Back Down to Earth: See Details Here
    OpenDrives

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

  • Techstars Aerospace & Defense Happy Hour w/ US Space Force and NASA JPL: See Details Here
    Techstars Space, Wilson Sonsini, Leonid Capital Partners

5:00 PM

5:00 PM

5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

6:30 PM

DTLA

9:00 AM

  • Future of Connectivity, Automation Impacting Companies, Retailers, and Family Offices: See Details Here
    Inspire Global Ventures, Digital Evolution Institute

10:00 AM

6:00 PM

ECHO PARK

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

EL SEGUNDO

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

1:00 PM

  • XR, Robotics & AI in Film Panels: *Invite Only*
    Undercurrent XR Studios

5:00 PM

  • Black Flag National Security Happy Hour: See Details Here
    Shield Capital, Harpoon Ventures, In-Q-Tel

5:30 PM

  • First & Third | A HardTech Happy Hour: See Details Here
    Third Prime, AWS, First Resonance

5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

  • Stress Tested: Defense Tech Meeting Reality: See Details Here
    Starburst, Picogrid

5:30 PM – 8:30 PM

  • Founders, Funders, & Forever Companies: A Mid-Week Mixer: See Details Here
    Trousdale Ventures

6:00 PM

  • Women in Data: *Invite Only*
    Sigma Computing, Prodege, Snowflake

7:00 PM

  • AI for building rockets and robots: CAD Reimiagined: See Details Here
    Hestus, Artifact, Rock Yard Ventures

HOLLYWOOD

11:00 AM – 1:30 PM

  • Imagination x Innovation: Tech's Role in the Future of Entertainment: See Details Here
    a16z speedrun, Comcast

12:00 PM

3:00 PM – 6:00 PM

  • Happy Hour & Panel with Crunchyroll, Vuori and Transcarent: See Details Here
    Mixpanel

4:00 PM – 6:00 PM

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

5:00 PM – 8:30 PM

5:30 PM

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

  • AI, Learning and Creative Futures: See Details Here
    ASU Herberger Institute of Design and The Arts, FYI Campus (Will.i.am)

KOREATOWN

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

MALIBU

12:00 PM

7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

MAR VISTA

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

  • The Longevity Advantage: How Top Founders Use Performance Medicine To Outlast: See Details Here
    Pooja Gidwani MD, Inc.

MARINA DEL REY

8:00 AM

10:00 AM – 3:00 PM

11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

11:00 AM

  • Startup Groundworks by JPMorgan: *Invite Only*
    JPMorgan

2:30 PM - 4:30 PM

  • Inside the Minds Bending Our Reality: See Details Here
    USC Information Sciences Institute, Stifel Venture Banking

4:00 PM

5:00 PM - 7:30 PM

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

  • Elevated Spirits: SA&M Tech Week Exclusive Mixer: See Details Here
    Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

PASADENA

8:00 AM

  • Hacking Human Happiness: See Details Here
    Innovate Pasadena, Art Center College of Design, City of Pasadena

PLAYA VISTA

6:00 PM – 8:30 PM

  • Smart to Intelligent: AI and the Connected Home: See Details Here
    IRVINEi, Loyola Marymount University

SANTA MONICA

12:19 AM

  • The Future of Robotics & Self-Driving Cars: Building Innovation: *Invite Only*
    TECHBUXIN

6:30 AM

8:00 AM

  • Founder Flow: Morning Yoga w/ Cake Equity: See Details Here
    Cake Equity, Cooley LLP

8:00 AM

8:30 AM

  • Early-Stage B2B Tech Founders & Funders Breakfast: See Details Here
    Forum Ventures, Zendesk, Cooley

8:30 AM – 10:30 AM

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM

  • MachineTrader in Action: Low-Code Infrastructure for Serious Traders.: See Details Here
    MachineTrader.io, Alpaca Markets

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM

9:00 AM

  • Penthouse Investor Breakfast with Vulcury Venture Studio: See Details Here
    Vulcury Venture Studio

9:30 AM - 12:00 PM

  • The Predictive CFO: Finance Leadership in the Age of AI: See Details Here
    Elements

9:30 AM - 10:30 AM

9:00 AM – 11:00 AM

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM

  • The Future of FitTech: How AI is Reshaping Fitness: See Details Here
    VSPYR, Fred Fitness

10:00 AM – 12:00 AM

  • SoCal Black Tech Express Pitch Competition: See Details Here
    Musa Capital, Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles, Daraja Collective

10:00 AM

  • Hyrox & InStudio Ventures Present: Sweat & Network at Fitstop: Invite Only
    InStudio Ventures, HYROX, Fitstop

10:00 AM

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

  • Hands-On with the Alpaca MCP Server: Natural Language Trading: See Details Here
    MachineTrader.io, Alpaca Markets

11:00 AM - 6:00 PM

12:00 PM

  • Safeguarding the essence of family in an AI-Driven Future: See Details Here
    Trove, MindfulBytes

12:00 PM

  • Investor 360: VC Fireside Chat
    Stubbs Alderton & Markiles Preccelerator

12:00 PM

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

1:00 PM

1:00 PM

  • LA-Tech CEO Summit: Invite Only
    LA-Tech.org

1:00 PM

  • The Founder’s Fight Club: See Details Here
    Braav Security, Santa Monica Striking

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

2:00 PM

2:00 PM

2:00 PM - 3:30 PM

  • Connect & Match: Tech Talent & Hiring Managers Navigate the Messy Middle: See Details Here
    Product Advisory Collective (PAC), Product Hiring House

2:30 PM - 4:00 PM

  • Beachside Female Founder Crawl: See Details Here
    Anne Taylor Communications, LLC., With Mari

2:30 PM

3:00 PM

  • AI in Africa Panel - Landscape, Opportunities, & Challenges
    Exo AI

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

3:00 PM - 5:30 PM

  • Climate Connect: Pickle Edition - Blue Bear + JPM: See Details Here
    BlueBear Capital, J.P. Morgan

3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

  • Talking with your data: ‘AI for BI’ happy hour: See Details Here
    Google Cloud, Looker

3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

  • The Future of Social Commerce: See Details Here
    Outlandish, TikTok, The Dodo Group, FHI Heat, Wyze, Back in the Box

3:00 PM

4:00 PM

4:00 PM

4:00 PM – 5:30 PM

  • Startups, Investors & Women Leaders: See Details Here
    Product Advisory Collective (PAC), Capacity Capital

4:00 PM – 7:00 PM

  • The Future of Creator Content Markets: See Details Here
    Winston Francois, Founder Mode

4:00 PM – 7:00 PM

  • Shaping Stories: Journalism, PR, Tech in a New Era: See Details Here
    Fr8qu8ncy, All In One Entertainment

4:00 PM – 7:00 PM

  • Community Led Launches: A Fireside Chat w/ Lavinia Errico (Equinox) & Actress Meagan Good: See Details Here
    CRWD

4:00 PM – 8:00 PM

4:30 PM – 6:30 PM

  • Vision to Velocity: Public Funding Pathways for DeepTech Founders: See Details Here
    Origin Ventures, Embark

4:30 PM – 7:00 PM

  • The Future of Mobility UX, a salon hosted by CoMotion & BMW Designworks: See Details Here
    CoMotion, BMW Designworks

5:00 PM

  • Signals & Capital - Where SaaS Is Heading & Who's Funding It: See Details Here
    Efficient Capital Labs, BDev Ventures, Mercury

5:00 PM

  • Personal Branding for founders & creators: See Details Here
    Girls Club, Oui We Studio, The Escapism Retreat

5:00 PM

5:00 PM

5:00 PM

  • Biz@Sunset Mixer: *Invite Only*
    Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, Shore Hote

5:00 PM

  • Neurodivergent Founders & Funders: A happy hour: See Details Here
    Shimmer, Neurode

5:00 PM

  • Innovation in Sports, Media & Entertainment with OneTeam and Waverley Capital: See Details Here
    One Team Partners, Waverley Capital

5:00 PM

  • Coffee & Chill: Gamers Unite at the Energy Station with Blockus: *Invite Only*
    Blockus

5:00 PM

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

  • The Next Orbit: Deep Tech & Beyond: See Details Here
    Fenwick, Generation Space, Upfront Ventures

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

  • CPG Happy Hour- XRC Brand Builder Grant Closing Event: See Details Here
    XRC Ventures, SHOPLINE, Manatt

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

  • The After-Hours Exchange: AI & Innovation Mixer: See Details Here
    Law Offices of Shan Potts

5:00 PM – 7:30 PM

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

  • Experience the Future of AI Filmmaking: See Details Here
    Neu Wave AI Films, cinemarket AI

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

  • Life After Perforce: Next-Gen Version Control for Game Dev & Virtual Production: See Details Here
    Diversion

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

  • Smart Brand Solutions: Tech Innovations 2025-2030: See Details Here
    Portal Media Center, Xavvi

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

  • Women in Tech (Sales, MKTG, & PR): See Details Here
    Kat Rucker Consulting Group, JTS - Joiful Talent Solutions

5:00 PM – 10:00 PM

  • AI FILMAKING: HOLLYWOOD'S NEW ALGORITHM: See Details Here
    Syndicate AI, Hollo AI, Hustle Fund

5:30 PM

5:30 PM

  • From Exec to investor: making the leap from running companies: *Invite Only*
    a16z speedrun

5:30 PM – 7:30 PM

6:00 PM

  • Games fireside chat and dinner with ElevenLabs: *Invite Only*
    ElevenLabs

6:00 PM

  • Breaking Barriers: Leveraging Biotech for Upward Mobility: See Details Here
    Biotech Connection Los Angeles, LA BioSpace

6:00 PM

6:00 PM

  • The Tech + Media Mixer With Fr8qu8ncy: See Details Here
    Fr8qu8ncy, The Omniverse City, All In One Entertainment, Trend

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

  • Youth Mental Well-Being and AI Panel/Mixer: See Details Here
    Headstream, iOpening Enterprises, Innovation Hub at Georgetown's Thrive Center, SidePorch

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

  • The Next Level: The Unfair Advantages of Building with a Venture Studio: See Details Here
    Expa

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

  • The Agent Era : Get Your Own AI Career Agent: See Details Here
    HeyNavii.ai, hawkemedia

6:00 PM – 8:30 PM

  • J.P. Morgan Presents: State of the Software Market ft. Alumni Ventures, Invoca, and K1: See Details Here
    J.P. Morgan, K1 Investment Management, Alumni Ventures, Invoca

6:00 PM – 8:30 PM

  • Forging The Future: A Discussion With Founders Building the Future of A&D: See Details Here
    Venturing Through Venture

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

  • Health Tech Exec Happy Hour by Rounds Health, MEDU, and Objective: See Details Here
    Rounds Health

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

  • Artificially Unintelligent Tech Comedy Show + Open Bar, with Vanta, Fondo & Axle Health: See Details Here
    Not So Daily Stand Up Comedy LLC, Vanta, Fondo Inc

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

  • In Good Company: Pitch-A-Founder: See Details Here
    The Neon White, Code Tech, Zendevr

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

6:30 PM

  • Unpacked: A Midweek Happy Hour for Creative Women in Tech: See Details Here
    PRISM Bags

7:00 PM

  • Curated Founder Dinner - Top Tech Founders (Apply/Invite-only): See Details Here
    KStar Holdings, GeekDoingGood.org

7:00 PM

  • The Re-Up: A Tech, Wellness & Art Experience: *Invite Only*
    GloFlow Wellness

7:00 PM

  • Santa Monica Fireside Dinner for LA TechWeek
    VioletX

7:00 PM

7:00 PM

  • Tech & Tonic - Learn & Social | Includes 1 Drink: See Details Here
    Los Angeles Fun Events

7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

  • XRC Founder & Investor Dinner - XRC x SHOPLINE Brand Builder Grant: See Details Here
    XRC Ventures, SHOPLINE, Manatt

7:00 PM – 10:00 PM

7:30 PM

  • Emerging Technology: See Details Here
    Lawrence Harvey - Emerging Tech Specialists, Lawrence Harvey

8:00 PM

  • What's Next: An Evening with Expa: *Invite Only*
    Expa

UCLA

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

  • Ghosted by Humans, Heard by AI?: See Details Here
    The Data Science Union at UCLA, SAY!T Mental Health

VENICE

8:00 AM – 10:00 AM

  • LA Tech Week - Women in VC Breakfast: See Details Here
    Fulcrum Venture Group, iSquared Capital, Juniper Square

9:00 AM

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

11:00 AM

12:00 PM – 3:00 PM

12:00 PM – 4:00 PM

2:00 PM – 7:00 PM

3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

3:00 PM

  • Family Office Seed to Scale: *Invite Only*
    Family Office Cross Border Alliance

3:00 PM – 6:30 PM

  • Google Cloud's CTO Connect - The New AI Creative Era & Happy Hour: See Details Here
    Google Cloud

4:00 PM

  • From Code to Cognitive: Building AI Agents & Automated Workflows: See Details Here
    Ardas

4:00 PM

  • Female Founders and Funders Happy Hour: See Details Here
    2 to 20, Rhodes Creative Group, TriNet, Orrick

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

  • Founder Friends: See Details Here
    Hustle Fund, Rivian, Fidelity Private Shares, Mercer Advisors

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

  • AI, Innovation & Oktoberfest!: See Details Here
    NRW.Global Business (North America)

5:30 PM

5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

  • Founders x Fractionals: The Future of Venture Building - A Build Momentum Launch Party: See Details Here
    Build Momentum

6:00 PM

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

7:00 PM

VENICE BEACH

9:00 AM

  • Swiss Watch AI: The $7B Opportunity - Morning Coffee and Pastries: See Details Here
    ViviScout

7:30 PM – 9:00 PM

VIRTUAL (LA)

11:00 AM

  • Capital + Growth: The New Model of Company Building: See Details Here
    Untapped Ventures

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

  • Hard Truths: Why Hardware Startups Fail Part II: See Details Here
    Hardware Velocity

WEST ADAMS

4:00 PM – 7:00 PM

  • Breaking Into Cyber: Your Roadmap to a New Career: See Details Here
    The Gathering Spot, What If Security, KSCOPE

WEST HOLLYWOOD

11:00 AM

  • Series A founders +Investors@ Private Club Hollywood, featuring Arthur Spivak: See Details Here
    Amino Capital, Atlas Cloud, Wilson Sonsini

4:00 PM – 6:00 PM

  • Scaling Your Consumer AI Startup | Panel with Snap & OpenAI | Hosted by Maven Ventures: See Details Here
    Maven Ventures, Inworld

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

  • 『AI Founders' Meetup』🌟 LA Digital Commerce Night: See Details Here
    UpScaleX, Moxy

7:00 PM – 9:30 PM

WEST SIDE

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

  • Who Regulates the Robots? Startups, Ethics, and the AI Wild West: See Details Here
    Sunstone Management, Pepperdine Graziado Business School

4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

  • Visionaries & VCs - The Early Stage Edition: See Details Here
    Amplify, Bling Capital, ActOne, Ventures

6:00 PM

  • AI + IS (Artificial Intelligence + Imagined Self): *Invite Only*
    MRKAI

6:30 PM - 9:00 PM

  • The Future of Pickleball - An LA Tech Week Roundtable: See Details Here
    DinkSmart

For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.

Enjoy LA Tech Week 2025!

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Who Gave the AI Access?

🔦 Spotlight

Happy Friday, Los Angeles.

The newest employee in the office does not need a desk, a salary or a coffee order. But it may have access to your company’s emails, financial records, customer data and software systems.

That raises a fairly important question: Who decides what an AI agent is allowed to do?

El Segundo-based cybersecurity company Saviynt is building its next chapter around the answer.

Carrick Capital Partners announced this week that it closed a $600M continuation vehicle for Saviynt, including a new $255M investment in the company. The transaction allowed Carrick’s existing investors to either take liquidity or remain invested, while also providing liquidity to Saviynt employees through a tender offer.

Continuation vehicles are not exactly known for making gripping Friday reading. The company behind this one is considerably more interesting.

Saviynt develops identity security software that helps businesses determine who can access their applications, data and infrastructure. Increasingly, however, “who” does not refer exclusively to a person.

Companies are deploying AI agents that can retrieve information, write code, communicate with customers and complete multistep tasks with limited supervision. These digital workers need access to company systems to be useful, but every new permission also creates another opportunity for sensitive information to be exposed or an unintended action to be taken.

In other words, AI agents may be tireless employees. They are not necessarily trustworthy ones.

Saviynt is addressing that problem through Zuma, its platform for discovering, securing and governing AI agents, large language models and other nonhuman identities alongside a company’s human workforce. The goal is to give businesses one place to determine what every identity can access, whether it belongs to an employee, a contractor, a software application or an autonomous agent operating at machine speed.

The opportunity appears to be growing quickly. Saviynt has surpassed $300M in annual recurring revenue, up from approximately $10M when Carrick first invested. The company says bookings have increased by more than 80% this year while customer retention remains at 96%.

The new investment was completed as part of the final close of Saviynt’s previously announced $700M Series B, which valued the company at approximately $3B. Carrick’s continuation vehicle was led by Coller Capital and co-led by HSBC Asset Management, giving the investment firm more time and capital to remain behind one of its strongest-performing companies.

For Saviynt, the funding will support further development of its identity platform, deeper integrations with major cloud and software providers and its push to become a central security layer for the agentic workplace.

That ambition reflects a broader change taking place inside companies. The first wave of enterprise AI focused largely on what the technology could generate. The next phase is about what it can actually do, and whether businesses can maintain control once AI moves from answering questions to taking action.

Saviynt is betting that identity will become the gatekeeper.

AI agents are gaining access to the digital workplace, whether corporate security teams are ready for them or not.

Someone still has to hold the keys.

More from this week’s LA startup and venture scene below.

🤝 Venture Deals

    LA Venture Funds

    • Fulcrum Ventures participated in Critical Materials Group’s $10.3M seed round, led by Overmatch Ventures and joined by Victory Six Advisors. The Austin-based defense manufacturer will use the funding to develop and commission modular, automation-ready production systems designed to expand domestic manufacturing capacity for munitions and advanced energetic materials. - learn more
    • Fusion VC participated in Newlight’s $9M seed round alongside lomarlabs, BIRD Energy, Undeterred Capital and CiRi Ventures. The San Francisco-based maritime technology company recently demonstrated its hydrogen-hybrid retrofit on an 8,500-nautical-mile commercial voyage, reducing fuel consumption by 24% and carbon dioxide emissions by 28%. - learn more
    • Rebel Fund participated in Metal’s $4.5M seed round alongside a16z, Y Combinator, Gaingels, Indus Valley Capital, Phaze Ventures and Pioneer Fund. Metal will use the funding to build an AI-native operating system that helps founders identify relevant investors, manage outreach and automate other parts of the venture fundraising process. - learn more
    • UP.Partners participated in Reframe Systems’ $40M funding round, led by Energy Impact Partners and joined by Counterpart Ventures, E12 Ventures, Global Brain, Thin Line Capital and LACI Impact Fund. The homebuilding startup will use the capital to expand its network of robotics-powered microfactories, which it says can construct homes three times faster and at 35% lower cost than traditional methods. - learn more
    • Clocktower Technology Ventures participated in Sharpi’s $4M seed round, co-led by NXTP and ONEVC and joined by MAYA Capital. The Brazilian startup will use the funding to expand its team and develop autonomous AI agents that connect WhatsApp conversations with enterprise systems to automate B2B sales tasks such as order processing, customer follow-ups and demand generation. - learn more

    LA Exits

    • Extensiv, a California-based provider of warehouse management and fulfillment software, has been acquired by Descartes Systems Group for approximately $120M in cash. The acquisition adds Extensiv’s AI-enabled inventory, order, billing and omnichannel fulfillment tools to Descartes’ logistics network, strengthening its offerings for third-party logistics providers and ecommerce brands. - learn more
    • DocSolutionUSA has been acquired by Stewart Information Services alongside ProTitleUSA, adding mortgage document generation and automation capabilities to Stewart’s title services platform. The companies provide title, document and due diligence services for mortgage servicers, investors and capital markets clients; financial terms were not disclosed. - learn more
    • Fysh Foods, the Los Angeles-based plant-based seafood brand founded by creator and entrepreneur Zoya Biglary, has been acquired by City Roots Hospitality in an all-cash deal with undisclosed terms. City Roots plans to introduce Fysh Foods’ raw fish alternatives across its New York City restaurants and potentially expand the brand beyond the city as its restaurant portfolio grows - learn more

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      An LA AI Company Just Won Entertainment’s Backing

      🔦 Spotlight

      Hello LA.

      The entertainment industry has spent the past several years debating what generative AI could take from creators.

      This week, some of its biggest companies put money behind an AI startup promising to build something for them instead.

      Los Angeles-based Stability AI raised $76M in Series B funding from an investor group that includes Electronic Arts, Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. AMD Ventures and Pacific Alliance Ventures also joined the round, while LA-based MANTIS Capital and Sound Ventures are among the company’s existing backers.

      The financing brings Stability AI’s total funding under CEO Prem Akkaraju to $232M, including two equity rounds and convertible notes. The company plans to use the new capital to expand its creative production tools, applied research and professional services across music, gaming and entertainment.

      The amount is notable. The names attached to it are the bigger story.

      Generative AI’s arrival in entertainment has been anything but quiet. Artists have questioned whether their work was used to train models without permission. Studios have faced pressure over how the technology could affect jobs. Record labels have pursued AI companies in court while simultaneously exploring how the same technology might fit into their businesses.

      Now, several of the world’s largest entertainment companies are investing directly in one.

      That does not mean the industry has resolved its concerns about AI. It means some of its biggest players would rather help shape the technology than wait to see what it becomes.

      Stability AI is positioning itself for that opening. Rather than focusing solely on general-purpose models, the company is building tools specifically for professional creatives. Its recently launched Stable Audio 3.0 was trained on fully licensed music and lets artists generate, edit and arrange audio through a web platform or directly inside digital audio workstations.

      Image Source: Stability AI

      That licensed-data approach is central to the pitch. The next phase of creative AI will not be decided only by which company produces the most impressive model. It will also depend on which companies can earn the trust of the artists, studios and rights holders whose work gives those models value.

      For its new strategic investors, the round offers more than financial upside. It creates a closer view into how generative AI may change production, a voice in how the tools develop and an opportunity to establish rules before those rules are established for them.

      For Stability AI, the backing provides something equally important: credibility inside industries that have every reason to scrutinize what it is building.

      The company now has capital and access to some of the largest catalogs, franchises and creative workforces in entertainment. What it does with that access will determine whether this becomes a meaningful alliance or simply an impressive collection of logos.

      Either way, the industry is no longer watching from a safe distance.

      It has entered the room.

      LA’s Air-Taxi Plans Are Coming Downtown

      While Stability AI is trying to change how entertainment gets made, Archer Aviation wants to change how people get to it.

      AEG and Archer announced plans to develop downtown Los Angeles’ first vertiport at L.A. LIVE, creating a potential new stop in Archer’s proposed electric air-taxi network ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

      Image Source: Archer

      The planned site would sit beside Crypto.com Arena and allow passengers to travel to and from the entertainment district aboard Archer’s Midnight aircraft. The company says its network could turn drives that take an hour or longer into electric flights lasting approximately 10 to 20 minutes.

      Archer has already identified SoFi Stadium, USC and Hollywood Burbank Airport as possible locations, with its recently acquired Hawthorne Airport expected to serve as the network’s central operating hub. As the official air-taxi provider of LA28 and Team USA, Archer has an unusually visible deadline for turning those plans into something tangible.

      AEG and Archer have completed an initial feasibility study of the L.A. LIVE site, including reviews of land use, airspace, power availability and community impact. The next phase will examine operations and the passenger experience.

      There is still a substantial distance between a proposed vertiport and a functioning air-taxi network. The infrastructure must be built, regulatory approvals must be secured and passengers must be persuaded that flying across the city is safer and more practical than staying on the ground.

      Still, few locations could make that future feel more real than L.A. LIVE. Millions of people already pass through the district for concerts, games and major events. Placing a vertiport there would bring urban air mobility out of the concept stage and directly into public view.

      Together, this week’s announcements show Los Angeles becoming a testing ground for two technologies still moving from promise toward everyday use.

      One could reshape how entertainment is created. The other could reshape how Angelenos reach it.

      In a city famous for both its creative industries and its traffic, that feels appropriately on brand.

      More from this week’s LA startup and venture scene below.

      🤝 Venture Deals

        LA Companies

        • Atorie raised a $9.5M seed round from investors including a16z speedrun, Night Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Jeremy Liew. The AI-powered fashion startup connects consumers directly with luxury manufacturers to offer high-quality goods without traditional designer markups, and will use the funding to expand logistics, production and its AI shopping tools. - learn more
        • Long Beach-based Maglut Heavy Industries emerged from stealth with $3.1M in pre-seed funding from Wave Function, Nova Threshold and Julian Capital. The startup is developing a chromatography-based system to process and refine rare earth elements domestically, with pilot tests producing materials at more than 99.9% purity. - learn more

        LA Venture Funds
        • MANTIS Venture Capital participated in Voya Energy’s $35M Series A, led by Energy Impact Partners and joined by John Doerr, StepStone, Founders Fund, Overmatch and Seven Stars. The Hayward-based startup will use the funding to commercialize its aluminum-fueled generators, which provide clean, off-grid power for data centers and other energy-intensive operations without combustion or local air emissions. - learn more
        • Regeneration.VC participated in eComID’s $17M seed round, led by Systemiq Capital and joined by Course Corrected, Stadium and returning investor CapitalT. The Stockholm-based startup will use the funding to expand internationally and scale its AI-powered Shopping Passport, which helps retailers personalize sizing and product discovery while reducing returns. - learn more
        • Clocktower Technology Ventures participated in Helcim’s $53M Series C, led by BDC Capital’s Growth Venture Fund and joined by new investors Curql Collective and LA-based Gold House Ventures. The Calgary payments company will use the funding to expand its platform, develop additional financial services and serve more small and midsize businesses across North America. - learn more

        LA Exits

        • Altruist agreed to be acquired by Vanguard, giving the Los Angeles-based wealth technology and custody platform greater resources to expand its tools for independent financial advisors. Altruist will continue operating as a standalone business under its existing leadership and brand after the deal closes, which is expected later this year pending regulatory approval; financial terms were not disclosed. - learn more
        • Personality AI has been acquired by WildBrain for approximately $11M in cash and 1M WildBrain shares upfront, with additional payments tied to future performance. The startup develops kid-safe conversational AI experiences for entertainment characters, including “Hey Peppa Pig,” and will help WildBrain expand its franchises into interactive products across toys, apps and digital platforms. - learn more

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          This Torrance Startup Just Raised $1B to Mass-Produce Hypersonic Missiles

          🔦 Spotlight

          Happy Friday, Los Angeles.

          Castelion has spent the past four years trying to prove that hypersonic missiles do not need to take decades to develop or cost so much that the military can only afford a limited supply.

          Now comes the harder part: producing them at scale.

          The Torrance-based defense startup raised a $1B Series C at a $13B valuation. The financing includes $800M in equity and a $250M revolving credit facility, making it one of the largest recent raises for an LA defense technology company.

          JPMorganChase’s Strategic Investment Group, Andreessen Horowitz and Carlyle co-led the round. Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lavrock Ventures, Altimeter, General Catalyst, T. Rowe Price and LA-based Interlagos Capital also participated.

          Castelion will use the capital to ramp production of Blackbeard, its low-cost hypersonic strike missile, while developing a longer-range precision weapon and new defensive systems. Hundreds of millions of dollars will go toward expanding manufacturing at Project Ranger, the company’s 1,000-acre production campus in New Mexico.

          Image Source: Castelion

          Blackbeard was designed in California, will be built in New Mexico and is expected to enter service in 2027. Castelion says it has already secured more than $500M in U.S. military contracts over the past 18 months and moved the missile from a clean-sheet concept to an official program in fewer than four years.

          That timeline is central to Castelion’s pitch. Traditional defense programs are often associated with long development cycles, limited production runs and eye-watering costs. Castelion is applying the rapid testing and vertically integrated manufacturing approach popularized by commercial space companies to weapons production.

          But a $13B valuation changes the standard. Castelion is no longer being judged as a promising startup with an impressive prototype. It is being funded like a company expected to become a major part of the American defense industrial base.

          The question is no longer whether a startup can build a hypersonic missile. It is whether one can manufacture thousands of them without losing the speed, discipline and cost advantages that made it disruptive in the first place.

          For LA’s defense ecosystem, that shift matters. The region has become home to a growing number of companies promising to modernize how America builds critical hardware. Castelion now has the capital, contracts and facilities to show what happens when that promise reaches the factory floor.

          The next test will not be in a pitch deck. It will be in production.

          More from this week’s LA startup and venture scene below.

          🤝 Venture Deals

            LA Companies

            • Long Beach based Ampaire raised a $19M Series B led by DiamondStream Partners, with strategic participation from Alaska Star Ventures and IAGi Ventures, bringing its total funding to $68M. The hybrid-electric aviation company will use the capital to expand flight operations, produce additional Eco Caravan aircraft, advance regulatory certification and scale its manufacturing capabilities. - learn more

            LA Venture Funds
            • SUM Ventures participated in AssistMe’s €6.5M funding round, which was led by CRB Health Tech and Vorwerk Ventures and included several returning investors. The German care technology company will use the capital to expand across Europe, prepare for a U.S. launch and further develop alea, its digital platform for supporting caregivers and improving nursing-home operations. - learn more
            • CIV led Hypercubic’s $5.3M seed round, with participation from Y Combinator, Afore Capital, Pioneer Fund, Multimodal Ventures and several angel investors. The San Francisco startup will use the capital to develop AI agents that can analyze, document and rewrite decades-old COBOL systems, helping enterprises modernize critical mainframe software faster and with less risk. - learn more
            • Plus Capital participated in Wispr Flow’s $280M Series B, led by Menlo Ventures and joined by existing and new investors, valuing the AI voice company at $2B. The funding brings Wispr’s total capital raised to $361M and will support its expansion beyond dictation into meeting tools and proprietary speech technology, including its new Canto model. - learn more
            • Alexandria Venture Investments participated in Leal Therapeutics’ $30M Series A extension alongside new investor Eli Lilly and returning backers including OrbiMed, Newpath Partners and SV Health Investors’ Dementia Discovery Fund. The biotech company will use the funding to advance clinical trials of LTX-001 for schizophrenia and LTX-002 for ALS, with initial schizophrenia trial data expected by year-end. - learn more
            • BroadLight Capital participated in Higgsfield’s $400M Series B, led by DST Global and joined by investors including Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Smash Capital, Fifth Wall and Intel Capital. The AI video and image platform, now valued at $5.4B with $700M in annualized revenue, will use the funding for R&D, global infrastructure, AI hiring and international expansion. - learn more

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